The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate stated in its annual Freedoms Report that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in 2022 committed over 900 crimes and human rights violations targeting Palestinian journalists operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

No less than 52 bullets hit the bodies of journalists in the field last year. Despite wearing a press flag jacket, Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Aqleh was shot in the head and killed by an Israeli sniper. 

Young radio journalist Ghufran Al-Warasneh was shot dead at an Israeli checkpoint on her way to work. The IOF claimed she was carrying a knife. Dozens of other journalists were injured by a variety of metal, rubber or plastic bullets. 

Detaining media crews and preventing them from working, amounted to 316 incidents. The number of injuries due to tear gas and stun grenades amounted to 95, while 117 colleagues were subjected to physical assault. This report sheds a light on three Palestinian journalists who lost their eyesight at the hands of the Israeli army.

Hit in the Eye

When 35-year-old photojournalist Moath Amarneh decided to visit the town of Surif near Hebron to cover the weekly Friday prayer, which is observed on land seized for settlement purposes, he did not know that the trip would cost him an eye. 

“I arrived a little late to the event,” Amarneh told Daraj. “As the occupation [forces] chased young male protesters, journalists were left behind the military patrols. From the start, the brutal repression of both attendees and journalists gave me a bad feeling. Also, one Israeli officer kept sarcastically asking passing journalists where they worked. That made me even more suspicious.”

Well aware of the nature of his work, Amarneh took all necessary precautions. During the incident, he positioned himself behind a berm, as journalists do when covering such events.

“Confrontations were taking place in the street and I sought shelter on the side of the road with a press flak jacket protecting my chest,” he explained. “The [Israeli] forces always aim for the limbs. So, I crouched behind the berm leaving only my upper body exposed. Still, I was hit.” 

A Deliberate Attack

Amarneh was shot in the eye by an Israeli sniper. After a long journey of treatment and recovery, his natural eye was replaced by a prosthetic one. The bullet is still buried in his face, as removal would put his life at risk. Amarneh had not expected to be injured. 

“I had put on my press helmet and vest and I was clearly visible,” he said. “I believe I was deliberately shot.” 

Less than 30 meters separated Amarneh from the sniper who shot him. There is no doubt he was clearly visible. 

According to the photographer, following an altercation between him and the IDF officer in charge, the latter spoke to the sniper in Hebrew. Amarneh believes it is probably then that the order to fire was given. 

“I was deliberately shot,” Amarneh said. “I was not hit by a stray bullet, but a targeted one, fired by a sniper from the [Border Guard] unit, armed with a Ruger rifle, the weapon usually used by IOF snipers.”

“The way the military forces treated me and other fellow journalists before and after the injury shows the attack was intentional,” he added. “I saw the same sniper 20 minutes before I was hit. He had a Ruger rifle on him. No other soldier or sniper had the same weapon.”

Feeling in Danger is Enough to Kill

An Israeli soldier does not need a solid justification to shoot live rounds at any Palestinian. 

According to Nadav Weiman, Deputy Director of Breaking the Silence, who used to be a sniper in the Israeli army and served in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from 2005 to 2008, a soldier can shoot to kill any Palestinian, even when aiming at lower parts of the body is an alternative. 

“Feeling in danger” is justification enough for an Israeli soldier to do so, he said. 

Breaking the Silence is an Israeli organization founded in 2004 by Israeli soldiers who served in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It seeks to bring to light violations committed by Israeli soldiers and “raise awareness about the daily reality of Palestinians.”

“When I was a soldier, there was something called ‘to spice up,’” said Weiman. “Meaning: an Israeli soldier can add details to describe an incident to his direct superior. For instance, a soldier can describe a Palestinian puffing a cigarette, as hiding something dangerous under his clothes while smoking. Based on this description, his commander can order him to shoot and kill. It is also permissible to shoot at a window with a moving curtain under the pretext that someone is hiding behind it.” 

According to Weiman, in most shoot-to-kill cases Israeli soldiers were not supposed to open fire. Yet, no one was ever prosecuted for killing a Palestinian, mostly under the pretext of lack of evidence. 

Investigations are often initiated at the end of a soldier’s military service in order to cover up the facts. Soldiers know that they will not be held accountable, even when knowingly having killed journalists or children. 

“Even when evidence was gathered, we didn’t see any soldier imprisoned or sent before a grand jury,” Weiman said. 

The Exception Proving the Rule

Only in very rare cases Israeli soldiers were brought to justice for assaulting Palestinians, often resulting in sentences that are disproportionately lenient compared to the offenses committed. 

This was for example the case with Elor Azaria, who was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting Abdel Fatah Al-Sharif, who lay motionless on the ground, in Hebron in 2016. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, yet released after only some nine months.

In 2014, Amnesty International released the report “Trigger-Happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank.” 

“The report presents a body of evidence that shows a harrowing pattern of unlawful killings and unwarranted injuries of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International. 

“The frequency and persistence of arbitrary and abusive force against peaceful protesters in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and police officers, and the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators, suggests that it is carried out as a matter of policy,” he concluded.  

Everyone is a Target

The Israeli military practice in the Gaza Strip is different from the West Bank.  

“There are no rules of engagement there,” said Weiman. “For instance, soldiers used to shoot at anything that moved during the peaceful Great March of Return (GMR) protests. Everyone was a target.”

On December 14, 2018, photojournalist Attiya Darwish was hit in his head. While covering the GMR protests, he was shot just under his left eye by a tear gas canister, despite wearing a press outfit and being 300 meters away from the fence along which the IOF soldiers were deployed. 

One year after being injured, and despite multiple surgeries, Darwish lost all vision in his left eye. According to the medical report he sustained a 7-centimeter deep hole in his facial bones and serious damage to his jaw, left eye and ear. 

Two days after the incident, he underwent surgery to remove bone fragments. Tests in a specialized eye hospital in Gaza indicated that he required surgery due to the damage sustained to the left eye retina. One year after the attack, doctors confirmed that his eye cannot be treated and that he had lost sight in it irreversibly. 

On July 9, 2019, Al-Aqsa TV journalist Sami Jamal Taleb Misran was the IOF’s next target. While covering a GMR march in eastern Gaza, he was hit by shell fragments of an explosive bullet that inflicted serious damage. As a result, he lost all vision in his left eye.

No Accountability 

When Amarneh’s medical condition stabilized and he started to get used to his new prosthetic eye, he contacted his lawyer to take legal action against the military unit that shot him. 

Yet, as soon as he filed a complaint with the competent Israeli legal authorities, he received a response claiming that the police had conducted all necessary investigations and concluded that the complaint did not fall under their jurisdiction. The incident had taken place in a “war zone” where they have no competence to follow up on such acts.

“When a person hit by a bullet is hospitalized, the police should at least take their statement,” said Amareh. “But no one asked me a single question. I filed a complaint with the Israeli police within 90 days following my injury. They immediately informed my lawyer that my case was dismissed, alleging that they lack jurisdiction and that the injury was not inflicted by the Israeli military, despite not having spoken to any witnesses, not even the injured himself.” 

International Law 

Amarneh indicated that the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) intends to refer his case, along with the cases of four other journalists, to the International Criminal Court (ICC). He has already provided the ICC with the required mandates.

The 1949 Geneva Conventions guarantee the protection of journalists as civilians during armed conflict. Article 79 of the 1977 Additional Protocol calls for the protection of journalists “as civilians” in areas of armed conflict.

Breaches of international humanitarian law and international criminal law regarding journalists, wearing outfits that identify them as such, amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.